St. Matthew PTO Holds Record-breaking Fundraiser

St. Matthew School Principal introduces students to the pig she promised to kiss during a Sept. 21 celebration of a record-setting fundraiser. The Message photo by Tim Lilley

Throughout the opening weeks of the 2017-18school year, the St. Matthew School PTO sold discount cards as a fundraiser. The cards, priced at $10, provided discounts across the area to a variety of businesses. They also provided record-setting results for the school.

The photos accompanying this story illustrate some of the “rewards” Wannemuehler promised students if the sale reached certain levels. “I told them they could have extra recess if they reached a certain level,” she explained. “If they reached the next level above that, I told them I would kiss a pig. And if they reached the highest level, they would get to ride in a limousine.”

They reached the highest level – and Wannemuehler went to new height to help them. She spent a few hours on the roof of the school on Aug. 12 as part of a sales blitz for the discount cards.

The students got their big rewards on Sept. 21 – the Feast of St. Matthew. A stretch limousine shuttled students a few minutes from school to a local park, where they enjoyed recess and pizza for lunch. After the limo returned them to the school, they gathered in the St. Matthew gym, where Wannemuehler appeared with a week-old piglet from Eisterhold Farms in Poseyville. School parents Benny and Katie Hoehn provided round trip transportation from the farm to the school.

“We nicknamed her ‘Jumper’ because she tried to jump out of her box the whole way,” Katie Hoehn said. “Jumper” seemed to enjoy all the attention she received from Wannemuehler and the students, who got a chance to pet her briefly after the principal’s kiss.